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THE WAR PROBLEM OF THE 
UNITED STATES 



COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS 



BY 

CHARLES RICHARD VAN HISE 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 



THE WAR PROBLEM OF THE 
UNITED STATES 



COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS 



BY 



CHARLES RICHARD VAN HISE 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 



DELIVERED AT THE SIXTY-FIFTH COMMENCEMENT 

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

MADISON, JUNE 19. 1918 



S3 



By TmiHirer 
JUN 8 1919 



THE WAR PROBLEM OF THE 
UNITED STATES 



Last commencement, I reviewed the progress of the 
World War for the two and a half months that the 
United States had participated in it. The principles, 
then stated, for w^hich we are fighting, remain un- 
changed. They have been expressed in various forms 
by many of the ablest men of the country, and illus- 
trations of them have been amplified in hundreds of 
books and thousands of articles ; but the very essence 
of the evil thing against which we are fighting is con- 
tained in the German doctrine that Might makes Right. 
We, on the contrary, with fixed determination, hold to 
the doctrine enunciated by Lincoln, when slavery was 
the issue, that Right makes Might. 

A year ago, it was still true that many of the well 
meaning citizens of this country believed the official 
statement of Germany that the war was forced upon 
her and that she was fighting in self-defense. The 
terms of the treaties imposed in the East have conclu- 
sively shown her insincerity; and finally the revela- 
tions of Prince Lichnowsky have demonstrated what 
we were morally certain of before, that, from the first, 
the war was planned by Germany as one of conquest. 
The people of America who believed in the rectitude 
of Germany's aims have become disillusionized, and 
our entire nation now^ fnlly comprehends the issues in- 
volved in the war. 

[3] 



We were driven into the World War at the begin- 
ning of the fourth summer campaign. The advantage 
at the end of the three previous campaigns clearly 
rested with the Central Powers. 

Germany retained her viselike grip upon Belgium, 
Luxemburg, and Northern France, the last including 
the great iron ore deposits of Lorraine upon which 
the industrial fabric of France is constructed. Ru- 
mania had been overrun. The Central Powers also 
held Poland, the larger part of Courland, and Lith- 
uania. 

On the other side, Italy had made some progress in 
Austria. The Russians had advanced in Northern 
Turkey and controlled the larger part of Armenia. 
Also, in Mesopotamia, the English had taken Bagdad. 
The colonies of Germany had been lost. 

Through the command of the sea, the economic pres- 
sure of the Allies upon the Central Powers had stead- 
ily tightened; and, under this pressure, Germany be- 
gan her ruthless submarine campaign which resulted 
in war upon us. 

We entered the world-contest without being pre- 
pared and vrere not in a position to send an army to 
the front during the summer of 1917. However, our 
navy was ready ; and we were able effectively to assist 
upon the sea in the fight against the submarine. Also 
we gave large material aid to the Allies. Further, 
being the chief source of supplies for the neutrals, we 
cut off the indirect importation of necessities to the 
Central Powers. In this way, we tightened the econ- 
omic grip upon Germany. 

From the outset, it has been realized that the war 
is to be won or lost upon the Western front. It was 
hoped that with our help the Allies would end the war 

[4] 



during 1917. Tlie program was a combined Allied 
offensive upon all fronts. The superiority of men and 
guns, which to the year 1917 had remained with the 
Central Powers, was then upon the side of the Allies ; 
and the campaign of that year was entered with confi- 
dence. In the West advances were made. Brilliant 
battles were won, among them Vimy Ridge. Then 
came the startling advance at Cambrai which raised 
our hopes high, but only to have them fade away ; for, 
within a short time, the British were driven back 
nearly to their former lines. 

Toward the end of 1917 it appeared that the western 
campaign of that year would be indecisive. To this 
disappointment were added the unhappy chapters of 
Italy and Russia. 

Late in the year came the disastrous onslaught upon 
Italy. In a few days, she lost not onh^ the Austrian 
territory she had gained, but a large area of Northern 
Italy. By tremendous effort, with the assistance of 
France and England, the Austro-Germans were held 
at the Piave, and the plains of Lombardy were saved. 
The full losses of the Italians we do not know, but the 
Central Powers claim to have captured 280,000 men, 
or many thousands more than the United States had 
in France at the beginning of this year. 

To this calamity must be added the catastrophic 
collapse of Russia. 

In the midst of our most hopeful period came the 
revolution in that country, which at first we welcomed, 
because it seemed an advance for democracy, — the last 
great nation but one joining the ranks of those who 
had overborn autocratic authority. At the outset 
things seemed to go well. The Duma was in charge; 
and at the head of the democracy of Russia was the 
able and experienced Prince Lvov; yet his name, so 

[5] 



well knowTi a year ago, we have almost forgotten. Then 
came Kerensky ; and upon him we depended to save his 
country. It seemed for a time that the trend toward 
disintegration would cease; but Kerensky was over- 
thrown by the Bolsheviki ; and we had at the head of 
the Russian government Lenine, a revolutionary red, 
and Trotsky, of whom w^e knew only as a soap-box or- 
ator of the East Side of New^ York, both absolutely 
without experience in any responsible position, private 
or public. 

Russia well illustrates the danger to a people, long 
under oppression, freed by one stroke from autocratic 
rule. Learning that ancient authority can be over- 
thrown, the people revolt against the newly constituted 
authority upon slight cause. 

Freedom suddenly acquired by revolution, instead 
of slowly by evolution, is a most dangerous power. 
The successful democratic nations have gained self- 
restraint through generations and centuries of self- 
discipline. 

A free people must recognize that the authority 
growing from themselves must be obeyed as implicitly 
as that of the autocrat claiming to rule by divine ap- 
pointment. 

The danger which many foresaw at the outset of the 
Russian revolution has been more than realized. Dis- 
order and disintegration spread throughout the coun- 
try. Finland declared her independence. The Uk- 
raine did likewise. The Cossacks refused to accept 
the authority of Petrograd. Finally, the Russian army 
was disbanded; and the Central Powers forced from 
Lenine and Trotzky a degrading peace which gave 
Germany and Austria control of a row of great pro- 
vinces from Finland to the Ukraine. 

[6] 



The Central Powers assisted Finland in gaining her 
independence; it is now proposed that there be im- 
posed npon her a German monarch, and thus make 
Finland a dependency. 

The independence of the Ukraine has been recog- 
nized by the Central Powers. However, the author- 
ities in control of the country were driven from power 
by Germany, and a government approved by that «oun- 
try has been set up which places the region in the same 
position of dependence as Finland. 

Thus, the Central Powers, at the present time, con- 
trol vast provinces extending from the Arctic Ocean to 
the Black Sea, — Finland, Livonia, Esthonia, Courland, 
Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine. In addition three 
provinces extending from the Black Sea to the Caspian 
Sea, inhabited by Armenians, are to be added to those 
people already subject to the Turk. 

The complete collapse of Kussia illustrates the aw- 
ful consequences of an ignorant but well meaning peo- 
ple placing their confidence in two wildly irresponsible 
men. 

As a final step in the East, a humiliating peace has 
been forced upon Rumania, under which she loses ter- 
ritory and accepts conditions which make Germany 
supreme in the economic development of that country. 
The Central Powers then proclaimed that a just peace 
had been made in the East by the might of their arms, 
and that now it was only necessary to secure a strong 
peace on the Western Front. 

The resources of the conquered or controlled pro- 
vinces are now available to the Central Powers. In 
this address these cannot be separately summarized; 
those of the Ukraine, as perhaps the most important, 
are brieflv mentioned. 



Until this war, the Ukraine, ordinarily called ' ' Little 
Russia ' ', was almost unknown to us ; yet this province 
comprises 850,000 square kilometers, or more than one 
and one-half times the area of Germany. It contains 
28,000,000 people, including several large manufactur- 
ing cities and the great commercial city of Odessa, on 
the Black Sea, the chief port of Russia, through which 
before the war went 70 per cent of all the exports of 
that country. 

The agricultural wealth of the Ukraine is enormous. 
Of the entire area of the country, more than one-half 
is under cultivation. Here are nearly one-third of the 
farm lands of all Russia. In normal times, the pro- 
vince produced annually more than 16,000,000 tons of 
cereals and possessed vast herds of cattle. 

The Ukraine is also the great mineral region of Rus- 
sia. From it comes 60 per cent of the Russian output 
of iron ore — an annual production of more than 
6,000,000 tons — one-sixth of the world's supply of 
manganese, and all the mercury produced in Russia. 
In the Ukraine is raised three-fourths of the coal mined 
in European and Asiatic Russia, and practically 
all of the anthracite. In consequence of these resources, 
the Ukraine is the great industrial region of Russia, 
the Pittsburg-Chicago district of that vast country. 

To the east of the Ukraine, in the land of the Cos- 
sacks, and to the north are the other great wheat fields 
of Russia. The natural outlet for this vast wheat 
region is down the Volga and the Don to the Black 
Sea. Once there, the way is open by the Danube and 
by railroad to Austria and Germany. 

While the other conquered provinces are not so ex- 
tensive or so rich as the Ukraine, the resources of 
several of them, for instance, Poland and Courland, 
are vast. 

[8] 



Finally the area turned over to Turkey from the 
Caspian Sea to the Black Sea greatly strengthens the 
Central Powers, for here is the petroleum of the Baku 
district, one of the most important in the world. 

While for the year 1918, the resources obtained from 
these countries by the Central Powers may not be 
large, it is certain that, organized by Germany, vast 
supplies of both food and mineral products will be 
available from them in 1919. Not only so, but the man 
power will be utilized by the Central Powers, at least 
indirectly, by the production of agricultural and min- 
eral connnodities. Probably also the ruthless methods 
of the Central Powers, which stop at nothing and 
which completely disregard all international law, will 
impress men into their armies. This means that there 
will be added to the 146,500,000 of the Central Powers, 
those of the dependent territories of Russia, some 45,- 
000,000 in number. Thus the total population subject 
to the Central Powers is not less than 190,000,000. 

This was the situation three months ago, in the early 
spring of 1918. The collapse of Russia had in large 
measure released the armies of the Central Powers in 
the East ; and the best divisions were transferred to 
the West. The superiority in man power passed from 
the Allies to the Central Powers. Then came the on- 
slaught of the German hordes the latter part of March. 
The fifth army of England was destroyed; and it 
seemed for a time as if Germany's plan to end the war 
by overwhelming the armies of the West would be suc- 
cessful. But finally, after an advance almost to 
Amiens and Arras, the drive was halted, but not until 
the area gained by the Allies as the result of three 
years of bloody war had been lost. 



Finally there came the terrific drive on Paris begin- 
ning the last week of May and continuing to the middle 
of June. The Germans pushed forward to the Marne 
and almost to Rheims in less than a week. They ap- 
pear noAv to be halted. But doubtless, following a 
period of preparation, they will launch somewhere a 
third drive. This week the Austrian offensive in Italy 
has been launched w^ith slight success. Almost at the 
outset it appears to be stopped. 

The first drive came at a time when it seemed that 
the efforts of America were paralyzed. It looked as 
if there could not be found in the country a sufficient 
amount of wheat to meet the absolutely minimum es- 
sential demands of the Allies. It had just become 
knowTi that the airplane service, of which so much was 
expected the first year, had added no planes to the 
fighting forces. Ships, instead of being launched in 
accordance with our hopes, had been produced most 
haltingly. 

As already stated, the German drive has been halted. 
By vigorous search, throughout the United States, it 
appears that sufficient wheat will be obtained to feed 
the Allies until the new harvest, provided we continue 
our extreme economy until that time. The airplane 
service has been reorganized ; and, while few Ameri- 
can planes have reached the Front, there is now hope 
that this important arm of the service, organized for 
the first time under a sound policy, will go forward. 
Ships have begun to be launched in increasing num- 
bers. One 5,500 ton steel ship has been turned over 
to the government complete in 37 days, and another 
8,800 ton ship in seventy-eight days. It now looks as 
if, for this year, not the six million tons that we had 
hoped, but four million tons may be achieved, and that 

noi 



the production will be so great in 1919 that lacking 
ships will no more be a source of anxiety. In the 
meantime, during the past three months, by concen- 
trating upon the transportation of men, with the as- 
sistance of great numbers of ships furnished by the 
British, men from America, who to that time had gone 
forward slowly, have been sent to France by the hun- 
dreds of thousands ; and the Secretary of War has an- 
nounced that soon we shall have in that country 
1,000,000 men. 

If the crisis of the World War has been passed, as 
now seems possible, the greatest crisis in the history 
of civilization has been turned. 

However we must appreciate that there is a gigantic 
task before us, which will demand that the United 
States act as a coordinated unit, exerting its utmost 
effort in every direction. 

In all wars, material resources have played a large 
part, and especially agricultural resources ; but this is 
the first great war in which the metallic resources of 
the world have taken a supreme place. It is true that 
Napoleon, an artillery officer, a century and a half ago, 
appreciated the importance of artillery ; and he stated 
that the Lord was on the side of the general who had 
the heaviest guns. Since Napoleon's time, artillery 
has steadily played an increasing role. 

But our own Civil War v/as not decided so much by 
heavier guns as by more numerous men and larger 
agricultural production. Indeed, to the very opening 
of the world war, no power except Germany had ap- 
preciated the importance of heavy artillery under 
modern conditions. Even France was relying mainly 
upon her light 75, which indeed is a superb weapon 

rii 1 



in the open field, but which is helpless before the mod- 
ern Troglodyte armies. 

To destroy cement and steel fortifications and to 
tear to pieces earthworks requires numerous large cal- 
ibre guns. 

In wars preceding the present, rifle fire was the cause 
of about 70 per cent of the casualties. In this war the 
situation is reversed, and the 70 per cent is due to gun 
fire. 

We now understand that, henceforth, land war is to 
be one of great machines of many kinds, including the 
heavy truck and the tank, of guns running up to those 
of 15 or even 20 inches in calibre. The heavy guns 
must number many thousands and the light guns many 
tens of thousands. The shells must be reckoned in 
hundreds of millions; indeed the demand for shells is 
insatiable. 

Our resources and those of the Allies will be taxed 
to the utmost to supply the demand for guns and shells. 
The side that has the most numerous and the heaviest 
guns and can fire the most shells can kill more of the 
enemy than the other side ; therefore, it is imperative 
that we have overwhelming superiority in guns and 
munitions. To dominance of gun fire must be added 
the supremacy of the air to locate men, works, and 
guns. 

If this becomes a war of attrition, as seems prob- 
able, the side must finalty win which can bring to bear 
the heaviest material resources; and in this respect, 
the United States stands unmatched among the na- 
tions of the world. 

We produce much more coal than Great Britain, 
France, and Germany combined. For that fundamen- 
tal metal, iron, we also produce more than these three 
countries together. We produce vastly more copper 

I 12 1 



than all the rest of the world. For petroleum we pro- 
duce more than twice as much as the rest of the world. 
Our agricultural wealth is not approached by that of 
the Central Powers combined. Our railroad mileage 
for 100,000,000 people is 40,000 miles more than that 
of all Europe for 450,000,000 people. 

Notwithstanding these enormous resources, we felt 
acutely this last winter the shortage of coal, and to a 
less extent a shortage of steel. 

The food supplies of tlie Allies have been scanty and 
their shortage of coal and certain minerals acute. 

But we must remember that every one of these diffi- 
culties we magnify, because close at hand ; whereas of 
the far greater difficulties of the Central Powers we 
know little. 

Sherman said of Grant that he was not better than 
some of the other northern generals in tactical capacity 
and strategy, but that he was unapproached in his con- 
structive imagination which enabled him to appreciate 
the weaknesses of his opponents and therefore what 
they w-ould be likely to do. His oM^n difficulties and 
those of the Confederates were placed in proper per- 
spective ; and he steadily moved forward. 

Further, a fundamental factor in the winning of a 
war is the morale of the opposing forces. Hundreds of 
thousands of selected youths from one hundred million 
people are bringing a new courage into the conflict; 
not a greater courage than that which has been exhib- 
ited by the French and British, for this is impossible, 
but the fresh courage possessed by these nations at 
the outset of the war. The hundreds of thousands 
are to become millions. This fresh courage of the new 
armies of the great Republic of the West cannot but 
have a highly inspiring influence upon the decimated 

[13] 



veterans of France, England, and Italy, who for the 
past four years have endured all the horrors of fight- 
ing an enemy unrestrained by any moral law. The 
fresh courage of the new divisions of America and Ha 
inspiring effect upon the men of the Allies cannot but 
have a depressing effect upon the German forces. 
Thus the entrance of the armies of America has a 
threefold influence in strengthening the morale of the 
forces fighting for Right. 

We must now resolve that as a solidified nation, 
working with the Allies as one, we shall bring all our 
moral, man, and material resources to bear upon the 
task of driving the Central Powers from Belgium, 
Italy, and France, and compelling them to release the 
subject provinces of Russia. 

This is indeed as grim and formidable task as has 
ever confronted a nation. 

The Congress must cease partisan politics and enact 
the necessary legislation so that the President and his 
agents shall have adequate authority and sufficient 
funds. 

In this country, where there is abundant and super- 
abundant food for all, we must practice self-denial and 
eat as asked by the Food Administration, in order that 
we may furnish to the Allies essential concentrated 
foods, which they must have — wheat, rye, meat, fats, 
and sugar. 

The farmers must exert themselves to the utmost to 
vastly increase the food of the country. Their exer- 
tions this year already promise well. The wheat crop 
is estimated at 930,000,000 bushels, and it may reach a 
billion bushels. Even the more moderate estimate is 
nearly three hundred million bushels more than last 
year. The rye will be increased by one-third, or from 

[14] 



a production of 60,000,000 to 80,000,000 bushels. It 
thus appears probable that at least to the harvest of 
1919, we shall be able to furnish the necessary w^heat 
and rye to the Allies besides having an ample amount 
for ourselves. 

The operators of mines must organize their work 
so as to produce the greatest possible quantities of 
coal, steel, copper, lead, and zinc; and these metals 
must be distributed in the most effective way. 

The manufacturing industries of the country must 
efficiently cooperate as asked by the government, for 
the production of war machines, guns, and munitions, 
in ever increasing quantities. 

Ships must be constructed in ever increasing num- 
bers. All unnecessary red tape must be eliminated. 
The highest business efficiency must be introduced. 

Happily Congress has enacted laws which make the 
railroads of the country a unit. The task is now to 
add vastly to the equipment of the roads and to oper- 
ate them to their fullest capacity. 

In all this work, there will be required the combined 
intellectual effort and the patriotic cooperation of the 
mining, manufacturing, and business men of the coun- 
try, the men who have been trained through many 
years in carrying on enterprises on a vaster scale than 
anywhere else in the world ; and they must participate 
in this work as patriots, not as profiteers. 

The wealth and industry of the country must cheer- 
fully accept greatly increased income and excess pro- 
fits taxes, for bv such taxes only will it be possi- 
ble for the government to obtain the necessary money 
to prosecute the war to the extreme of the country's 
power. 

As self-denial is asked of the business men, likewise 
self-denial is asked upon the part of labor. Organized 

[15] 



labor must not work to produce the minimum output 
in eight hours, but to produce the maximum output. 
Strikes must be eliminated. Work must go on un- 
ceasingly. AVhenever injustice is done by employers, 
the appeal of the employed is to the government labor 
board for rectification of the wrong. Such appeal, 
exercised in several instances, has had prompt re- 
sponse. Happily it may be said that for the most part 
the demands of patriotism to labor are now being fully 
met. 

This must be a war of farmers, laborers, artisans, 
managers, engineers, business men, united as one 
against world autocracy. 

Educational institutions, as all others, have as the 
supreme consideration service to the nation — how they 
can best advance the winning of the war. This has 
been the guiding principle of the University of Wis- 
consin since our country entered the gigantic struggle. 

From the outset, it has been recognized that the reg- 
ular work of the University is patriotic work of the 
highest importance and that the faculty must continue 
with full efficiency their instructional work, in order 
that we may furnish to the country a steady supply of 
highly trained young njen and women. This impera- 
tive need can only be met by the higher educational in- 
stitutions. However, so far as possible, the facilities 
of the University have been made available to the gov- 
ernment for other needs. These principles, carried 
out consistently, are in harmony with the recently an- 
nounced policy of the government. 

While guided by these principles, it was also appre- 
ciated that members of the faculty, who have special 
qualifications for particular work, should answer the 
call of the government. A large proportion of the 

[16 1 



faculty have thus responded, the greater number work- 
ing at war problems in connection with their instruc- 
tional work and in vacations ; but also nearly two hun- 
dred have taken leave of absence and are giving their 
full energy to war work. 

In this address, it is not feasible to summarize the 
war work of the members of the faculty. It comprises 
many lines of teaching, extension, administration, and 
research. Many members of the faculty have ren- 
dered most useful service, both to the state and to the 
nation. The results of certain lines of research will 
bring high honor to this institution. 

Also, in accordance with the policy outlined, the stu- 
dents have been urged to remain at the University un- 
til trained for some particular service. For the ma- 
jority of the men, this training has looked toward en- 
tering the officers' training schools or some special 
branch of the army or navy. When thus prepared, they 
have been urged to enter the fighting ranks. This ed- 
ucational policy lias now been adopted by the War 
and Navy Departments. 

A large number of men have already entered the 
service. To Commencement, 1918, of the students who 
Vv'ere registered herein the years 1916-17 and 1917-18, 
1,550 have entered the army and 382 the navy; in ad- 
dition to these, 115 students have withdra^\^l for war 
work, in tlie Red Cross, in government occupations, in 
munition jjlants, in state service, and in the allied arm- 
ies of England, Canada, and Italy, — a total of 2,047. 
Already ten have made the supreme sacrifice for their 
country. Two have been killed in action, two died of 
wounds received in France, one was killed on an avia- 
tion field in Texas, and five have died of disease. 



17 



Members of the Graduating Classes : Having come 
to the end of your academic careers, the question be- 
fore each is what you can best do to assist in the su- 
preme effort of the nation. Already of the men of the 
graduating class, who today are candidates for first 
degrees, 400 in number, 204, or more than half, have 
answered the question by entering the army or navy. 
They will today be awarded the special diploma of the 
University which contains the phrase, "In his senior 
year, he entered military service in the Great War for 
the defense of democracy." 

Other men who are graduating will also join the 
stream of those who have alread}^ entered the army 
or navy. For others, the command of the Country 
will be the more difficult one to continue their educa- 
tion in medicine, in chemistry, or in other subjects 
where there is even greater need for men than in the 
ranks of the fighting forces. This command you must 
patriotically obey. 

Many of the young women are thinking, with envi- 
ous eyes, of the opportunity of the men to serve at the 
front. Your patriotic ardor inust find different 
outlets. Many of you will go into the Ked Cross, into 
civilian relief work, in public campaigns, etc. ; but also 
the woman's work of the world must be done; and it 
should be recognized that the women who continue this 
work also are performing a patriotic service. Finally, 
the duty will fall upon many, of filling the places in 
commerce, in mining, in industry, in administration, 
left vacant by the men. 

If the full power of this country can be coordinated 
under wise constructive leadership, the war can have 
but one termination. The Teutonic powers will be 
overborn. But let us not minimize the effort. 

[18] 



Inspired by the righteousness of our cause, we must 
bring to bear vast quantities of food, multitudes of 
great ships and innumerable mighty engines of war, 
built of our abundant metals and driven by the energy 
of our unlimited supply of coal, all under the control 
of millions of our most select young men, highly 
trained for the work before them. 

To do this will require, from all, the supremest sac- 
rifices of which we are capable, thinking first of the 
future of this nation and of humanity rather than of 
ourselves. 

If this sacrifice be made, we shall not fail ; if it be 
not made, the Central Powers will win the war. This 
w-ould mean that the evil doctrine that Might makes 
Right is established in this world. It would mean that 
moral law between nations has disappeared, and that 
the giant nation is free to prey upon her weaker neigh- 
bors. It would mean that the people of the World are 
to become, like the German peasant, the submissive, 
docile cattle of the war lords of Germany. 

But the sacrifice will be made; it must be made, 
even if it costs us millions of dead and a debt of scores 
of billions of dollars. Right will become Might. The 
individual mil continue to have free growth into the 
heavenly air above. 

Without these things there can be no permanent 
peace in this world. Therefore, men and women of the 
graduating classes, highly resolve to exert to the ut- 
most both your mental and physical energy, in order 
that you may do your full share in maintaining in this 
world a dominant moral civilization. 



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